Reuters reports, “Saudi Arabia’s newest airline Riyadh Air said on Wednesday it had placed an order for 60 Airbus narrowbody A321-family jets as it prepares to start operations in 2025. The deal, signed at the Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh, brings to 132 the total number of jets ordered by the Saudi startup, which last year ordered 39 Boeing 787 Dreamliners with options for 33 more.”
Full Story (Reuters)
Tag: Aerospace
China’s Three-Person Crew Arrives at Tiangong Space Station
AP News reports, “A Chinese space ship carrying a three-person crew docked with its orbiting space station as the country seeks to expand its exploration of outer space in competition with the United States, even as it looks for cooperation from other nations. The team of two men and one woman will replace the astronauts who have lived on the Tiangong space station for the last six months, conducting a variety of experiments and maintaining the structure.”
Full Story (AP News)
Japan Grounds Ospreys Following Hard Landing During Exercise
Aviation Week reports, “The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) has grounded its fleet of Bell Boeing V-22 Ospreys following a hard landing incident. The Japan Defense Ministry Joint Staff says the incident took place on the country’s Yonaguni Island on Oct. 27. The V-22 was participating in Exercise Keen Sword, a joint wargame with the U.S. military, where it was transporting military personnel simulating a medical evacuation.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
American Airlines Sets New Record with its Longest Flight by Distance
Simple Flying reports, “American Airlines made history this morning with the arrival of its inaugural nonstop service from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Australia’s Brisbane Airport. The flight set a new record for the longest route by distance flown by American Airlines, and it is now the longest route on the growing Brisbane Airport network map.”
Full Story (Simple Flying)
NASA Determines Cause for Orion Heat Shield Charring
Aviation Week reports, “NASA says it has determined why its Orion spacecraft returned from its 25-day Artemis I flight test around the Moon with unexpected charring in its heat shield. Agency officials, however, declined to release its findings, pending ongoing internal discussions about next steps.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NASA’s Europa Clipper Has Some Stops on its Long Road to Jupiter and its Moons
SPACE reports that the NASA Europa Clipper mission is on its way to Europa, but it has some stops to make before it investigates “the potential habitability of Jupiter’s icy ocean moon Europa.”
Full Story (SPACE)
NASA Still Working to Resolve Boeing Starliner Issues After 1st Crewed Test Flight
SPACE reports that Boeing’s Starliner had propulsion issues after launching on its first test mission with astronauts. Six weeks after the mission concluded, “NASA is still working on the issues that complicated the spacecraft’s first crewed test flight, agency officials said on Friday (Oct. 25).”
Full Story (SPACE)
Lilium Set to File for Insolvency Protection to Salvage eVTOL Aircraft Plan
Aviation International News reports, “Lilium is about to file self-administration proceedings in a German court, implementing a form of insolvency protection as it scrambles to line up further investment to complete the development of its eVTOL aircraft. The company announced the move on October 24, a week after the German parliament’s budgetary committee rejected its application for a €50 million ($54 million) loan guarantee, which blocked a matching €50 million loan from the state of Bavaria.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Northrop Anticipates Next B-21 Production Award by End of the Year
Defense One reports, “Northrop Grumman anticipates getting a second contract to continue producing the Pentagon’s new B-21 Raider by the end of the year, executives announced today. ‘With B-21, we are on track for meeting the milestones associated with an award’ for Low-Rate Initial Production Contract 2, or LRIP 2 ‘and so we are expecting that to happen in the fourth quarter,’ CEO Kathy Warden told investors during the company’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday.”
Full Story (Defense One)
Crew-8 Splashes Down Off the Coast of Pensacola, Florida
Spaceflight Now reports that three U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut have “returned to Earth after spending more than seven months in space.” Crew-8 includes NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin.
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 Re-entry and Splashdown
(NASA; YouTube)